Chapter 159: Territory Expansion

"Lord Count, the aid sent to our family by the royal family—ten thousand sea-serpent gold coins—has arrived, along with several other precious resources."

"Here is the detailed list."

Inside a room within Iron-Gold Castle, a civil official handed a document to Li Ju.

Li Ju took the document, glanced through it casually, and then set it aside.

"You may all withdraw first."

Li Ju said to the civil officials and attendants gathered before him.

The officials and attendants immediately acknowledged the order and withdrew. Only four figures besides Li Ju remained in the room.

"Count Rhinoceros, Count Whirlwind Eagle, how well have you two established control over your respective county territories?"

After everyone had retreated, Li Ju turned to ask the two individuals seated on one side of the room.

Following the deaths of the former Count Rhinoceros and Count Whirlwind Eagle, Li Ju had transferred Viscount Poisonous Vine and Viscount Thunder Tiger from within the family to succeed to the two county titles, taking charge of the two county-level lairs and becoming the new Count Rhinoceros and Count Whirlwind Eagle.

As for the two viscount-level territories they had previously managed, Li Ju had handed them over to two other members of the Iron-Gold family.

"Reporting to Lord Count, I have already gained initial control over the territory left behind by the former Count Whirlwind Eagle," the new Count Whirlwind Eagle spoke up first, after exchanging a glance with the new Count Rhinoceros.

"Lord Count, the situation on my end is somewhat special. Because the former Count Rhinoceros had long since defected to Grand Duke Boulder, quite a few subordinate nobles under Count Rhinoceros have followed suit and pledged their allegiance to Grand Duke Boulder as well," said Count Rhinoceros.

Compared to the relatively young territory of Count Whirlwind Eagle, the territory of Count Rhinoceros had existed for over two hundred years. Such a long-established county meant it had been developed for a long time and was relatively prosperous, but it also meant there were plenty of troubles, with all sorts of factions intertwined and rooted deeply there.

Even though the Iron-Gold family had now dispatched people to succeed to the title of Count Rhinoceros in name, they could not completely sort out the relationships among the various factions within the territory in a short period of time, let alone the fact that the forces of Grand Duke Boulder were still stoking the flames behind the scenes.

Even some nobles who originally submitted to the former Count Rhinoceros and now submitted to the Iron-Gold family might still be harboring hidden agendas.

"The situation in the territory of Count Rhinoceros is complex and directly borders the forces under Grand Duke Boulder. You can temporarily ignore those nobles who have declared their separation from our control. Your primary task is to maintain stability—just keep the territory of Count Rhinoceros stable for the time being."

"Currently, the family's main energy is entirely focused on devouring the lands of the County of Ice Spirit. Once the family completely annexes the County of Ice Spirit, we will be able to free up our hands and help you fully control the territory of Count Rhinoceros."

Li Ju said slowly after a moment of contemplation.

Although the royal family had taken away the lair core of the Crystal Spirit, the territory of the Count of Ice Spirit was not taken away with it; instead, it was left behind.

Even though Li Ju lacked the crystal spirit lair core and therefore lacked the legitimate and justified grounds to officially claim the territory of the County of Ice Spirit, the Count of Ice Spirit was dead nonetheless, and the territory remained ownerless. Consequently, Li Ju directly dispatched troops to attack the territory, preparing to swallow up all of its lands.

Li Ju intended to use this military expedition as an opportunity to thoroughly sweep away all factions within the County of Ice Spirit and completely secure the land for himself, avoiding the predicament faced in the territory of Count Rhinoceros, where they had possession but could not exercise full control.

Once the territory of the Count of Ice Spirit was completely devoured, the Iron-Gold family would control four county territories in total: the Iron-Gold County, the Whirlwind Eagle County, the Ice Spirit County, and the Rhinoceros County. In terms of territorial expanse, it would probably rival that of some marquises.

"The royal family will soon confer upon me the title of Marquis. My intention is to keep the marquis title as Iron-Gold Marquis. What do you all think?"

After the discussion regarding the three newly occupied counties concluded temporarily, Li Ju spoke again.

"This... After all, our Iron-Gold family does not yet control any marquis-level lair. Even if Your Lordship's personal strength has reached the marquis level, conferring the marquis title upon our family based solely on your strength alone... how would that make us any different from those court nobles?"

The four people in the room exchanged glances for a while before Rex, Li Ju's father in this body, finally spoke up.

Traditional landed nobility had always looked down upon court nobles ennobled by the royal family, believing that their titles stemmed from royal favor rather than personal strength. Therefore, the older members of the Iron-Gold family like Rex held an inner resistance to the idea of the family becoming court nobility.

In particular, the faction of landed nobility stood in subtle opposition to the faction of court nobility. Once the Iron-Gold family—formerly landed nobility—joined the court nobility faction, they would not only incur the hostility of the landed nobility but would also fail to truly integrate into the circles of the court nobility.

"Since our family has already decided to submit to the royal family, we must naturally accept their ennoblement. This is the condition I openly agreed upon with the royal family, and we cannot refuse it."

"Besides, who says our Iron-Gold family doesn't have a marquis-level lair..."

The last sentence spoken by Li Ju was extremely faint, to the extent that the others in the room did not even hear it.

"Even if our family truly must accept the royal ennoblement, do we necessarily have to retain the name of the Iron-Gold family?"

"This is not to say we disrespect the heritage of our family name, but now that we have lost the Armored-Gold Dragon lair, according to noble legal principles, we are no longer qualified to call our family by the name of Iron-Gold, nor are we qualified to continue holding the surname of Iron-Gold."

"Especially now that the Armored-Gold Dragon lair has fallen into the hands of Grand Duke Boulder, if we continue failing to change our family name, I am afraid Grand Duke Boulder's hostility toward our family will only grow heavier."

So said the fourth person in the room—Sopes Iron-Gold, recently promoted by Li Ju to take charge of all military affairs within the territory and the plan to annex the County of Ice Spirit.

"The name of the Iron-Gold family must be retained. I have no intention of being forced to change my surname."

"As for the hostility of Grand Duke Boulder?"

"From the very moment he decided to attack our Iron-Gold family and seize our Armored-Gold Dragon lair, the enmity between us and Grand Duke Boulder became irreconcilable."

"Since we are already destined to be enemies, why should we care about his thoughts?"

Li Ju stood up and extended one palm, clenching it into the empty air.

"Between us and Grand Duke Boulder, there can only be one outcome..."

"One of us dies, or the other lives!"